Double slap or Dare
by chiibi13
Summary: It started with a dare and led to a kiss. Now, Naruto's infatuated with the harsh, testosterone-hating Hinata. Chaos is bound to follow. NaruHina with a dash of SasuSaku. Rated T for strongly implied sexual themes and language. DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
1. A Conflict of Interests

"This sucks."

Hinata was not happy. Not happy at all. She considered herself a very accommodating person but her two friends seemed to almost enjoy trying her patience. There was only so much she could handle despite her 'people-pleasing' - as Ino had once not-so-gently pointed out once - ways.

Not only had Sakura and Ino had somehow convinced her into going on vacation in the Fire Country's capital but all they had actually managed to accomplish this past week so far was get far more lost than she thought was possible while trying to tour the city, causing the two aforementioned girls to bicker and spit at each other like rabid cats. That, she was used to. Going through high school with the two girls who shared an odd sort of 'friends but enemies' dynamic had increased her tolerance for needless shouting and she knew well enough by now that flying accusations and doors slamming were just the skin off the back of their childhood rivalry.

_Then_, during the miserable excuse of a 'nice tour' of the city, the two girls managed to find time amidst their spat to find some brainless morons to flirt with. This, she could deal with, too. Their popularity in high school was no secret especially with their cafeteria drama sessions and cat fights that tended to attract more male crowds than Hinata was comfortable with.

However, _this _predicament that she found herself in at the moment was the boiling point. Fighting and shameless flirting she could handle. Cornering her right after a nice, lovely bath only to ruin her good mood with the demand that she shack up with a man? Lord help her if she gets her hands on a sharp object.

"Look, Hinata, you seriously need a boyfriend," Ino scolded, hands on her hip and eyes rolling at Hinata's obvious disdain. "You're on your third year of college already. Sakura and I are just trying helping you." Oh, yes, god-forbid that she remain single.

"And I appreciate your help," Hinata replied, teeth gritted and adjusting her towel before trying to head towards her room and therefore wiggling her way out of this conversation. Sakura, being the smart one, quickly stood at her room's doorway, successfully blocking her only escape from the much unwanted intervention.

Irritation climbed it's way up her throat and before she could stop it, she ground out,"However, unlike the two of you, I don't need a guy to re-assure me of my self-worth." From the way Ino's jaw clenched and her eyes quickly averted, Hinata already regretted her words and an veil of awkward tension quickly descended upon the three friends.

"Ouch! Low blow, Hinata," Sakura coughed out, trying to ease the uncomfortable atmosphere and earning a scowl from the blonde. "I should have guessed you'd be this feisty about it, seeing as how touchy you are about the whole male subject. But Ino's right; we _are_ just trying to help. It's been three years since your break-up. It's not healthy to still be this bitter about it and it's definitely not fair to the guys out there who are genuinely nice."

Hinata slightly softened her scowl, taking in her friend's words and Sakura, sensing this slowly tried to slip in,"Especially the guy I'm setting you up with tonight," at which Hinata quickly groaned in protest shaking her head and running a hand through her wet hair. This was tiring but she could feel her defenses slowly wearing down.

"He's a really nice guy!" Sakura tried to salvage her last attempt only to have Ino, pride still mortally wounded scoff.

"Who, Naruto?" the blond skeptically asked, arms crossed again her midriff. "She'd have a better time with a male escort, not that there's much of a difference between the two."

"Not helping, Ino," Sakura ground out.

"What? I'm just being honest!" Ino barked back, a vein on her temple already prominently jutting out.

Hinata sighed. The last thing she needed right now was to listen to another of their bitch fits. "Would you guys quit it already?" she tiredly scolded, voice slightly raised.

The two immediately shut their mouths, albeit with clenched jaws and fists. Sakura, being the more mature out of the two quickly tried to appease the girl.

"I'm sorry that got out of hand a little bit," Sakura huffed out, ignoring Ino's quiet muttering,"Who's fault do you think that is?"

Hinata sighed in defeat and looked the girl in the eye. She hated fighting. Especially with her friends, even if they were annoying but she knew they've been concerned about her for a while now. All of a sudden, she felt immensely guilty about making them worry. She hated feeling that way but that's just how she was.

"It's okay,"she finally said and turned to her blonde, blue-eyed friend. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Ino."

The girl simply huffed with her chin in the air,"I've heard worse." She looked at Hinata and smiled,"Besides, I know you didn't mean it. I'm surprised you came up with something that rude, actually."

Hinata felt the heaviness in her lighten. "Only 'cause I learned from the best," she replied with a small smile

Ever the opportunist, Sakura took advantage of the atmosphere to slowly tread the waters."So, you'll go tonight?"

Hinata grimaced and for a moment the two girls held their breaths and braced for the explosion.

"But it's a _goukon_," she merely whined at which Sakura and Ino smiled brightly. They've got this in the bag.

"It'll be fun!" Ino exclaimed, dragging Hinata into the girl's room and setting her down on the bed. She immediately turned towards the wardrobe and started shifting through the hangers full of clothes, no doubt to pick out an outfit she deemed appropriate for the devil's creation that was a _goukon_.

"Besides, it's a great way to make friends even if you're not looking for a guy," she sang, only pausing her actions to turn to the towel-clad girl to warn,"that doesn't mean you're off the hook, by the way. The main goal of tonight is still to get you laid."

"Besides,"Sakura plopped onto the bed beside the poor girl to rub her back in comfort,"it's not like I'm setting you up with a total stranger. He's an old friend from when I was still living here. We've kept in touch so I know for sure that he's good looking. Hell, if I hadn't grown up with the dork, I would have gone for him!"

"Alright, alright, I'll go," Hinata sighed,"But this is only because you guys are going to be there,"muttered with a weak glower.

"We know," Ino chirruped,"You would have gone ballistic is we made you go on a solo blind date. That's what I would have wanted but Sakura's all,'She needs to go slowly, trust issues, needs space, blah, blah, _blah_',"eyes rolling as she used her hand as a mock-mouth and voice drawling in what was an impression of Sakura as Hinata giggled in the background.

"Hey! It worked didn't it?" Sakura objected, clearly not as amused as the dark-haired girl beside her.

"Yeah, well, I think three year's worth of space is enough," Ino shot back, not even bothering to look away from the contents of Hinata's closet.

"Whatever. We're just concerned, is all, Hinata," Sakura said.

"That Ino has issues with entering a long and stable relationship?" Hinata playfully replied.

"Hey!" Ino objected,"I thought we were past that!"

"No," the pink-haired girl replied, despite laughing a little. However, she quickly sobered, quietly continuing, "We're concerned that it's been three whole years since you were with Mikio and you haven't been able to look at a guy, let alone go out with one. You can't really just hate every male you see because of one jerk. It's not even just about guys, it's about people, too. At some point you're going to have to let other people in and start enjoying life again."

At this Ino, stopped and turned fully to rest against the cabinet shelves to look at Hinata. "We know it's been a rough couple of years for you,"she said, uncommonly serious,"but the 'time heals all wound' crap hasn't seemed to take effect yet. It's time to take action, honey. You're not going to get anywhere if you just sit around and wait for the world to magically eject all the assholes in the world into space."

"What Ino means,"Sakura quickly said, giving a warning look at the blonde and her blunt ways,"is that we just want you to be happy."

Hinata stared at her lap, fully absorbing her friends' words and suddenly felt so genuinely cared for. Ino was right, she needed to do get off her self-pitying ass and do something. If not for herself, then for the sake of putting her friends' worries at ease.

"I hope you guys didn't fix me up with some douche. I've had enough of those," Hinata said moodily but eventually cracked a grin.

Hinata's suspicions quickly rose when she received a scoff from Ino and a nervous smile and thumbs-up from Sakura.

* * *

Somewhere in the same city, a certain blonde sneezed. He sniffed and continued walking down the street, sandwiched between the two other young men on either side of him.

"Hmm. Maybe you're catching a cold, Naruto," a lazy voice dragged.

"Ah, man that would suck! Sakura was gonna introduce me to some chick tonight! Can't be on my game when the bod's lagging behind!" the blonde exclaimed.

"Don't worry. Idiots don't catch colds," said one with dark hair.

"Ah, thanks, Sasuke. I was really worried for a moment- wait, are you calling me an idiot?"

"Obviously, dumbass," the one apparently called 'Sasuke' replied with ease.

"Who's that dumbass here, you emo?!" Naruto shouted.

"You of course, idiot."

"AAHH?! WHAT WAS THAT? WANNA TAKE ME ON?!"

"Would you please stop shouting, we're in public, idiot. The people on the other side of the street can practically hear the exclamations marks. Sasuke, would you make him shut up. Sticking with you guys is so troublesome," the lazy voice sighed, shuffling in his pockets to reach his cigarette pack. He needed quieter friends.

"Don't put me in the same group as him, Shikamaru!" Naruto objected, pointing an accusing finger at the indifferent man.

"That's my line, dobe!" Sasuke muttered, annoyed.

"So troublesome. Why do we have to go this goukon thing, again?" Shikamaru drawled with a cigarette in his mouth while attempting to start his lighter, the flint sparking before it finally burst into a small flame.

"Because Sakura's hooking us up with some of her friends tonight. And you know that Sakura always has pretty friends," the blonde cheerfully replied. He swung both arms to rest on each of his friends' shoulders and took long, enthusiastic strides dragging his friends along much to their annoyance.

"It'll be good for you guys since I bet you haven't gotten laid in months!" he shouted for the rest of the world to hear earning him two smacks on the head.

"Speak for yourself, dobe. As if you could even manage to talk a girl into going home with you," Sasuke hissed, shoving his hands into his pockets and continuing to step down the street with a perfected '_I don't care_' air about him.

Shikamaru and Naruto quickly caught up with him, the laughter slinging his arm on the irked man's shoulders to smugly reply,"Now, I don't think I need to remind you about the countless times you've walked in on me during one of my appointments with the ladies."

"No, you don't need to remind me," Sasuke groaned. He had just managed to get the image that was burned into his retinas when he accidentally walking in on Naruto with an 'appointment' - in the god damn kitchen, no less - out of his head a few weeks ago. He had made the idiot scrub the kitchen counter for two hours as punishment but the mental scarring of Naruto's tanned ass would haunt him forever.

"Sasuke, I feel sorry for you," said Shikamaru patting the man on the shoulder in sympathy.

"You don't know the half of it," Sasuke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger in frustration,"Roommates with this horn-dog for three years and counting."

"Hey! There's one year for us left, and I intend to live it out well. That's what college is about," Naruto grinned as Sasuke shook his head tiredly,

"You've been living it well for three years. Take a break already, will you?" the dark hair sighed.

"You gotta enjoy life while you can," Naruto shrugged, fox grin growing even wider.

"Oh, enjoy life but while you might not need a break, Sasuke definitely needs one, so have mercy on his poor soul. Let his mind be at peace so that he doesn't have to worry about entering a room without seeing you bang some random girl who's name you probably don't even remember," Shikamaru said laughing a little, despite himself.

Naruto dramatically placed a hand on his chest as if he had been shot, feigning injury and pretending to stumble, nearly taking down Sasuke with him.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed. "Such poetic yet hurtful words!"

The two of them laughed while Sasuke was scowled. "Stop talking about me as if I'm not here, idiots."

"Alright, alright. For your sake, Sasuke, I'll take it easy with the one night stands. No promises if I hit it off with the chick Sakura's setting me up with, though. Tonight's gonna be a blast!"

* * *

**A/N:**

For those who have reviewed and followed this story previously, just wanted to let you know that I'll be taking down all the other chapters to edit and re-write them before posting them up again.

Any comments, flames or violent reactions? Leave me a review!

Happy September, everybody. :D


	2. Meeting New People

Tension as heavy as bricks hung in the air and Sakura was in a pickle. She had wanted things to go as smooth as possible as she had finally managed to convince Hinata to go out for a few drinks with a couple of guys after three years' worth of nagging. Of course things would never go according to plan. Stupid Naruto and his stupid, unsociable friends. Really, she should have know by now that when Naruto mentioned he had two good friends, he really meant,"they're weird and quiet but they're the only ones who can put up with my obnoxious loud mouth". How was she supposed show her poor Hinata how to enjoy life when she was stuck with a bunch of introverts? She had a responsibility, god damn it!

On the bright side, they really were good looking. Especially Sakura's date. She had to admit that Naruto had a magic touch when it came to these type of affairs but did they have to be so... reluctant? They looked like they'd been kidnapped and forced to come without their consent, which, knowing Naruto, was probably the case.

Normally, Sakura and Ino would have just left. They didn't need this crap even if they were incredibly attractive - the two girls were gorgeous and knew it. They could just go to another bar and try their luck their. Unfortunately, this was not a normal night on the town for them. This monstrosity of a group date was Hinata's first re-introduction into the world of dating after three years of wallowing in the fury of a woman scorned.

"So… Do you have any siblings?" Sakura politely asked catching Naruto's frantic signals too late. She couldn't make out what he was saying anyways but she'd was able to gather that it was a negative response. Well, great bunch of help Naruto's been tonight. She'd be calling the shots right now, _thank you very much_.

"Just one. An older brother," he replied stoically, resting his elbows on the table and almost muffling the words by his hands as he rested his chin against his interlocked fingers.

"Oh? Do you live with him?" Sakura asked hopefully. Finally, some proper interaction other than bland, monosyllabic replies and scoffs.

"No, I live with Naruto," the man dully stated, averting his eyes from her to glance at the mentioned blonde who gave him a nervous smile.

"Oh. Is your brother busy working then?" she asked.

"No," came the dull reply, making a muscle in Sakura's jaw twitch.

"Is he staying with your parents?" she asked before hearing that guy with that weird ponytail guy Ino was stuck with sigh and Naruto mutter,"_Aw, shit_."

Suddenly, the raven-haired man fixated his piercing gaze on her, into her eyes and into her goddamn_ soul_ and blandly stated,"My entire family was massacred by my brother who now resides in a mental institute in the Sound Country."

_Shit! _How the in the ninth circle of hell do you recover from that?

"I'm so sorry… Umm… Oh wow, it sure is hot nowadays, huh?" Sakura laughed nervously and uselessly fanning her face with a hand before turning to glare daggers at Naruto. Leave matters - _important matters_ - to him and he sets her up with the guy with the mother-load of terrifying, emotional baggage.

Naruto simply shrugged at Sakura as if to say,"He's fine by my standards, enjoy." Oh, she was going to enjoy strangling Naruto to death when tonight was over.

Hinata watched the entire exchange while quietly drinking her beer and brooding over what a disaster tonight was. 'Never should have agreed to this stupid thing,' she thought with an audible sigh which snapped her blue-eyed date back to attention.

"Don't worry about Sasuke, he's okay," he re-assured her earning a skeptically raised eyebrow. "He's way more mentally-balanced now, trust me," the boy simply grinned.

"Granted, he had to chew through 5 different psychotherapists to get there but he's all good now,"Shikamaru snorted as Ino looked appalled that when her date finally said something, it wasn't even directed anywhere near her general direction. The bastard had been almost insufferable, replying to everything she said with a statement that ended in,"too troublesome."

She glanced at Sakura who was quietly rolling her beer around as if the hypnotic swirling of the liquid could somehow erase the past five minutes out of her mind. She'd try one more time, _one more time, _to have a pleasant evening with this pony-tailed dickhead and if he didn't respond, she'd bash his head in and take her friends somewhere else more entertaining.

"So…do you like…er…surfing?" Ino tried to start.

"No. It's too troublesome," Shikamaru yawned at which Ino felt a vein pop on her forehead. She would probably have to go to the dentist tomorrow as she was sure her molars were cracked from the way she'd been grinding her teeth. Dear Lord, she hated this man.

"Alright," she stood and abruptly announced, the unpleasant squeaking of the chair scraping the floor causing a few of the party to grimace at.

"This is obviously a bust. We're leaving,"she stated, arms crossed under her well-endowed chest.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sakura fumbled. She wasn't giving up yet, she couldn't! Not when they were so close!

"Fine with me," Sasuke murmured. Okay, not so close. But Sakura was anything but a quitter.

"Oy, Sasuke!" Naruto scolded his friend. "I'm sorry, girls. I know it's been pretty shitty so far but the night is still young!"

"I don't know, Naruto. Clearly, this isn't working out so let's not waste each others' time," Ino bitterly ground out. She walked over to Hinata and tugged at her arm,"Let's go, Hinata."

"Ino, wait!" Sakura tried again.

"Come on, Ino," Naruto joined Sakura, only irritating Ino further. "If I promise to make the guys behave, will you guys stay?"

"No," Ino simply declined.

Sakura quickly jumped in front of the two girls, hands clasped at the chest and head slightly tilted to use her signature puppy-dog eyes. "Please, Ino? For Hinata. She might want to stay."

Ino paused and turned to the dark-haired girl and asked,"Do you want to stay, Hinata?"

There was a pregnant pause. Hinata looked to each of the guilty parties slowly. Why were they leaving this decision to her now? She just wanted to home. Oh, crap, why did she look at Sakura? Oh, there it is. Lower lip jutting out and slightly trembling. Combine that with her killer doe eyes and you've got Sakura's puppy-dog face in it's final and most powerful form. _God damn it._

"Fine, we'll stay," she huffed out tiredly, making Sakura raise her arms in victory as Ino hissed venomously under her breath.

"Great! Don't worry, we'll show you a great time tonight, I promise," Naruto grinned before turning to his friends, arms crossed over his torso in a mock scolding manner. "You'll behave, right guys?" The two simply scoffed until Naruto raised his voice slightly,"_Right, you guys?_" giving them a stern look making the two shift uncomfortably until Shikamaru finally gave in.

"Fine," he grumbled and prodded Sasuke in the side until a low but defeated,"Whatever."

"See? Everything's alright," Naruto beamed. Ino huffed and wandered back to her seat across Shikamaru and Hinata gave the blonde a small smile in apology.

"First order of business: stronger liquor," Naruto enthusiastically announced.

The whole table heartily agreed.

* * *

Nearly three bottles of sake later, the whole group was reduced to a tangle of noisy shouts and uncontrollable giggles.

"I'm... I'm so glad the whole awkward part is over now," Sakura slurred out.

"Yeah!" Hinata giggled,"I feel like I've know you guys forever now!" Her face felt kind of funny now.

"Me, too!" Naruto exclaimed, wide eyed at the coincidence. Wow, the universe was a funny thing, one moment they were all at each other throats and now - what do butterflies taste like? "How are you guys feeling right now?"

"I'm pretty buzzed," Hinata happily replied, resting her elbows and her head on her upturned hands.

"Yeah, me, too," Sakura commented as Ino just giggled.

"I'm okay," Shikamaru replied. Sasuke numbly nodded in agreement.

"OH! Do you guys want to play a game?" Naruto over-enthusiastically suggested. "Let's play double-slap or dare!"

"Wassat?" Ino asked dumbly.

Naruto shakily stood up and dramatically cleared his throat, preparing to explain the rules.

"'Double slap or dare' is just like 'truth or dare', except that instead of 'truth', there's 'double slap'- that's when you get slapped twice on the arm by every person playing, but you can only pick 'double slap' three times- after that, you have to take 'dare'. When deciding a dare, we give the person three dares to pick from," he announced, palms face down on the table in order to support himself. He abandoned any pretense of sobriety and began picking up bottles from the table, his wobbly searching causing the them to clatter. "We need a bottle to spin, actually. We spin the bottle and whoever it points at has to take a dare or get slapped twice by everyone."

"Well, we could use a beer bottle," Hinata suggested.

"Actually, a plastic bottle would be better. Glass bottles aren't the best for spinning, especially when they fall. Trust me," Ino slowly suggested, pointing to herself as if to further validate her answer.

"So, a plastic bottle anybody?" Naruto asked, one arm extended in a welcoming gesture.

"I've got a plastic Mountain Dew bottle, but it's still got some in it. Does anyone want to finish it off?" Sakura said.

"Ah, then is it okay if I drink it?" Sasuke quietly said.

The whole group sat in shock. _It spoke! It finally spoke!_ Rice wine was truly the bringer of miracles.

Sakura was the first to recover. "Sure, go ahead," she said as cheerfully as she could. She handed him the half empty bottle and Sasuke started gulping it down, ignoring Naruto's leering grin.

"Hmm…" Naruto mused, leaning towards Sasuke he muttered, "I bet you just wanted to have an indirect kiss, neh~?" causing the raven haired boy to instantly choke. Sakura blushed and punched Naruto on the arm, nearly throwing the inebriated man off his chair completely.

"Like anyone would want that, dobe!" Sasuke growled. "No offense, Sakura," he added thoughtfully. He was pretty tipsy now. He could get away with courtesy.

"None taken," came the blushing reply. Sakura made a mental note that he finally called her by name.

"Hmmm… Sakura-chan, you're blushing," Naruto teased earning him another bruise. "Gah, you are suck a violent drunk, Sakura! It was just a joke so calm down!"

Sakura huffed,"I'm not drunk so shut up and start the game already. There's your stupid bottle." She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue at her offender.

"Real mature. You're _totally _sober," Naruto muttered as he spun the now-empty plastic bottle. It soon blurred, becoming a swirl of green until it slowed down to a stop, the top accusingly pointing at Shikamaru.

"Double slap or dare?" Naruto grinned.

Shikamaru immediately held his arm forward and stated, "Double slap."

"Man, you're no fun," Naruto whined.

Shikamaru dutifully received his slaps from everyone and spun the bottle. It landed on Naruto.

"That's what I'm talking about! Bring it on! Give me you're best dares!" he declared.

"Hmm… Call the bartender 'Professor'?"

"That's one. We need another one."

"Uh. Flash the bartender?""

"Why are we out to get the bartender?"

"One more."

"Oh! Make out with anyone on this table right now."

"Hmph! Such lame dares," Naruto crossed his arms across his torso, chin high up in the air.

"Oh stop complaining and just pick one."

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry, Hinata," he bowed his head. He stood up and made his way towards Hinata.

"Is he going to?"

"No, he's so not gonna- Oh my God he _is_ gonna go for it!"

Hinata sat completely still, her heart rapidly beating and as she watched Naruto determinedly strut his way over to her chair saw what was to come. She could feel the panic slowly rising from the pit of her stomach, climbing up her torso but somehow not quick enough to reach her stupid, alcohol drenched brain jump-start her limbs into action. Naruto loomed over her, one hand resting on her chair, the other gently cupping her face to move her towards him. She could feel herself helplessly gravitating towards him and watched wide-eyed as his own fluttered close and is his surprisingly soft lips connected with her.

"Oh my god, he really is making out with Hinata!"

For a drunk guy, he was a pretty good kisser. Maybe he used lip balm.

* * *

**A/N:**

Somehow, I've always pictured Naruto as a lip-balm kind of guy. I don't know why.

Any comments, flames or violent reactions? Leave a review! :D


	3. Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

After three hours which several more dares, which included (but were not limited to) a shirtless Shikamaru, Ino giving body shots and of course, hitting on the bar tender - the poor man; Hinata was obviously not the best at picking up men - the girls departed, leaving the bar supporting each other, wobbling on each other's arms in an obviously drunken state.

The remaining men settled into a pleasant lull at the table, the alcohol in their systems making them sluggish.

"Man, what a girl," Naruto sighed in a daze.

"Hm, yeah I bet you'd know. It was practically just the four of us playing that stupid game while you chatted her up," Sasuke smirked lazily.

"Did you know that she likes poetry? I like poetry, too," Naruto went on, seemingly unaffected by his friend's condescending tone. A sure sign he was totally blown at this point.

"Name one poem," Shikamaru challenged.

"Okay, I don't remember any right now, but I _could_ like poetry!" Naruto protested.

"I bet you've never even set foot in a library, idiot," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I have! Well, not to read books anyways, _if you know what I'm sayin'_" Naruto laughed boisterously, slapping an irritated Sasuke on the back.

"Yes, we always know, even if we wish we didn't," Shikamaru yawned, scratching his bare chest. Where did his damn shirt go?

"I'm just surprised you haven't knocked anyone up yet," Sasuke glowered aloud, his back still prickling from the slap and poured himself another cup of sake.

"I'm very careful,," Naruto shrugged.

"That or you're shooting blanks," Sasuke grinned, taking swig of the drink in his hands.

"HEY! I am not sterile!" Naruto yelled, grabbing the bottle from his snickering friend and helping himself to a drink, straight from the bottle.

"Gross," Shikamaru commented but took a swig from the bottle nonetheless.

"Hey," Naruto perked up, seeming to have instantly forget Sasuke's jab at his manhood. "What did you guys think of Hinata?"

"She's okay, I guess," Sasuke shrugged. He wouldn't really know actually. She seemed quite reserved, even under the influence of alcohol. Was she even straight? She seemed to have a thing against guys; had that sort of feminist vibe going on.

"Okay? She's amazing! She's really beautiful, too. But in a..." Naruto grasped about the air as if he could catch the right words,"unearthly sort of way, you know?"

His two friends shared a look and then burst out laughing.

"You've got it bad, man!" Shikamaru gasped out, slapping his hand on the table.

"What? I do not!" Naruto defended, crossing his arms in indignation. He was being serious!

"Yeah, man, you do," Sasuke accused, his short burst of laughter dying down into an infuriating shit-eating grin.

"'_Unearthly beauty_'?" Shikamaru mockingly chimed in.

"What? It's true! You saw her! Don't tell me you've seen anyone with her eyes before-!"

"Actually, I have-" Shikamaru interjected thoughtfully before he was cut off.

"- or met anyone like her! She's so... different. But in a good way. Like, she doesn't throw herself at you or flaunt herself or anything like that even though she has everything you _should_ flaunt," Naruto ranted with a glazed expression plastered on his face. "But I feel like there's so much more there to her... you know?" He looked to his friends beseechingly.

"Yeah, you've got it bad," Shikamaru drawled with a small grin and turned his attention to his pockets, looking for his cigarette pack and lighter. Naruto took his time with that little speech and he was getting a little bored of this topic now. Just as he lit the cancer stick, his mind pondering on various things, Naruto asked a question that caused both him and Sasuke to give pause.

"What do you think love is?"

The two boys groaned, already knowing what was coming.

"I wouldn't know," Sasuke growled, wishing they stopped the idiot from going down this road when they had the chance.

"Is it when you know that she's the only one you want to wake up next to every morning?" Naruto wondered aloud, a look of realization slowly making its way to the boys face.

_'Crap, Naruto's already pulling out the romantic, corny shit now,'_ Shikamaru thought with an inward groan. "Naruto, please don't," hestarted, already exhausted with the thought of the troublesome mess this was going to cause in the near future but Naruto wasn't listening.

The cogs in his mind were beginning to turn, the gears swiftly running on infatuation and sweet alcohol for fuel. It made sense, right? After all, he had never met anyone like Hinata before. She was beautiful _and _had personality, albeit a somewhat harsh personality but he liked to think of it as 'spunk'. Although,in all honestly, he didn't really get to talk to her that much since the game and liquor kept them busy and he knew he wasn't exactly in a right state of mind for majority of the but he could feel a connection between them right after that kiss!

"You guys, I think I'm in love!"

* * *

**A/N:**

Naruto's such a closet romantic, isn't he?

Sorry if the chapter's pretty short this time. Any suggestions, comments or seizures? Leave a review!

_Chiibi13_


	4. Assumptions

The golden sunlight streamed through the windows, the sweet smell of dew in the air. It was the beginning of a beautiful day.

For Hinata, however, her day began with a running start to the toilet bowl and having her two best friends hold her hair back while her stomach decided to go through a rebellious stage.

"You really can't hold your liquor, can you, Hinata? Oh, well. I guess that's expected since you don't really drink much 'cause a certain _someone_ didn't like it," Ino said as her dear friend retched again. She didn't know whether it was from the alcohol or the mention of that dickhead. The name of Hinata's dictator of an ex-boyfriend had long been taboo since the unfortunate breakup 3 years ago.

"Oh, please, Ino. Speak louder, my head doesn't hurt enough," Sakura scowled.

"I think there's some aspirin in the kitchen," Hinata said, lifting her head from the bowl for the first time. Her head felt like it was ready to split open any second now. Every time she moved her head even the slightest bit, she could feel the back of her neck and her brain explode. Last night was the first time she got drunk in a _long time _and it was great, but dear God, if it meant getting hangover like this every time, she never wanted to drink again.

"Here, drink this," Sakura instructed her as she handed a glass of water and two small, white pills. Hinata wiped her face and then popped the pills into her mouth, downing it with the water. There was an aftertaste throwing up left in her mouth from and the water only amplified it. She felt like she needed to eat something, anything, but was pretty sure that if she did, it would come right out anyway,

"You feeling any better, honey?" Sakura asked rubbing her back.

"A little, thanks," she managed to reply. Her throat felt hoarse and dry. Thank God they were on vacation.

"The first hangover is always the worse. After that, it's not that bad," Ino said.

"You know very well that this isn't my first one," Hinata growled, her voice echoing inside the toilet bowl as she hung her head over it, mostly out of necessity but partly out of shame. "But it certainly is the worst."

"Well, it certainly won't be the last," Sakura sighed albeit with a small grin.

"Yep, we'll make sure of that," Ino smiled.

"But we'll always be here to hold your hair back the next morning," Sakura smiled softly, brushing Hinata's hair a bit.

"I'm counting on it," Hinata laughed softly, causing her head to start pounding but she didn't care. They all laughed and shared a brief hug.

"Uh, guys. I think you better let go of me now," Hinata said, her up-chuck reflex starting to work its magic. The two let go of her quickly and re-assumed their previous positions, holding her hair away from the bowl and soothingly rubbing her back. The apartment was filled with the sounds of retching once again as the birds sang outside on that beautiful, glorious day.

"I'm never drinking again."

* * *

"Whoa, man. I have one of the worst hangovers ever," Sasuke moaned, rolling over on the couch trying to block the sunlight getting into his eyes. Damn it, the sun was annoying.

"You need to get out more," Naruto said, sitting on the coffee table beside the couch.

"I do go out, and it's usually with you. It's just that I'm always the driver so I don't drink as much. We had Shikamaru this time, so I indulged myself a little too much," he growled. He didn't care if every word he said made his head pound even more. He was defending his dignity, God damn it.

"True. Here, buddy, have some aspirin," Naruto told him, handing him a glass of water and a pill bottle. Sasuke looked at the label closely. His eyes burned, but he had learned to always double check whatever Naruto gave him, especially when concerning food. Just thinking about the countless times he had consumed out-of-date food was making his stomach churn. Naruto, thinking quickly, grabbed a trash can near them and offered to his best friend who emptied his stomach's contents.

"Thanks," he mumbled, wiping his mouth. He inspected the label of the pill bottle in his hand again.

_Laxative,_ it said, _Extra strong._

"Naruto, these are laxatives. What's more, they're expired," Sasuke sighed. "Are you trying to kill me or something?" How did he survive living with this idiot for the past two years?

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry! I'll go to the pharmacy and get some aspirin," Naruto said. "Sit tight, okay? I'll be back as fast as I can."

Naruto left his friend's side and managed to catch the sound of retching just before he shut the door.

* * *

"So…what's the verdict?" Sakura asked. Hinata shifted in her seat, unsure of what to answer. "Well? What did you think about last night?"

"It was okay…" she replied after a moment of thought.

"Okay? _Okay?_ Hinata, a spending the weekend at your grandmother's house is _okay_," Ino rolled her eyes.

"It was…fun," she replied earning her another skeptic look from her friends. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Okay! It was really fun! I enjoyed myself immensely and to my heart's content, happy? And for your information, I always have a great time at my grandmother's house, thank you very much," she snapped.

"Ha! We so knew it! What did you think of Naruto? You guys were _so_ into each other, it was completely obvious," Ino proclaimed.

"Well, okay, yeah, he's great. He's funny, charming, sweet, and handsome, has a hypnotizing smile, and has eyes as deep as the sea…" Hinata sighed in a daze, but quickly forced a stern expression on, "but he's a playboy. Sasuke said that he practically sleeps with a different girl each week and he himself agreed."

"Alright, so he likes to play around a little bit-"

"Sakura, that boy has been with more girls than _I've_ been with guys. The boy's a man-whore-" Ino drawled, rolling her eyes when Sakura cut her off.

"Not helping, Ino. Anyways, Hinata, playing around is part of his nature, but that doesn't mean that he can't take things seriously. Besides, he likes you."

"How would you know?"

"Trust me. I've known him since we were kids and he is definitely into you," Sakura smirked.

"Oh, really? Enlighten me," Hinata challenged.

"He always started the conversation, he was very clear about it when he was complimenting you and he never took his eyes off of you!"

"As opposed to his normal behavior which is…?"

"Always waiting for the girl to make the next move, and being extremely vague when it comes to talking about himself."

Hinata could feel the conflict of her emotions and logic battle in her head. This guy obviously really had an effect on her but she didn't know if he even remembered her name and not to mention the fact that she barely knew him. He could be just another dirt bag with a fake smile trying to get into her pants. Could he really, though? The one thing that jumped out at her was that he seemed to... genuine.

"I need some air. I'm gonna take a walk to clear my head," she announced as she stood up from the table.

"Oh, then could you go grab some stuff from the pharmacy than? The list's been on the refrigerator for ages now," Ino asked.

"Yeah, sure," she replied, grabbing her coat.

* * *

Naruto browsed through the shelves of the small store, just in case he found something else they needed. There was loads of cool stuff at the pharmacy anyways. Oh, he better buy some condoms since he was almost out. Safe sex was not something he joked about.

After having a good laugh at the different varieties on the shelves, he picked up a box and put in his hand basket and proceeded to continue roaming. Arriving upon the food section, he loaded some instant ramen, bananas, and a can of whipped cream into his basket, as well.

_'Man, I love whipped cream'_, he thought, grinning to himself.

Suddenly, he caught a flash of deep purple at the corner of his eye. He turned but it was simply a purple banner promoting shampoo. He shook his head and walked away, inwardly scolding himself.

As he walked past another aisle, another flash of purple jumped at him. Quickly turning, it was yet again another false alarm.

_What the hell, man? It's just a stupid poster. What are you doing?_ He scolded himself.

Naruto sighed. For some reason unbeknownst him, his mind was a swirl of indigo locks and lavender eyes. That girl from last night just wouldn't let his mind rest. Naruto was always pretty a corny guy, but even _this_ at the moment was too cheesy; he felt like he was in some lame rom-com chick flick. Not that Naruto knew what rom-com meant because he _certainly_ did not watch romantic comedies on his laptop when Sasuke was out of the apartment.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and took his basket to the pretty girl at the counter.

"Hey, there," he greeted her, putting his basket on the counter.

"Hi," she replied with a smile as she checked his items in it.

"Oh, hey, don't panic," he told her seriously while slowly moving reaching his hand towards her, the concentration of his oceanic eyes of the girl making her blush. Of course, Naruto was too focused on the offending insect in her hair to notice. "There's a spider on your hair. Don't freak out, I got it."

He quickly brushed the small arachnid off of her head and tried to lightly smooth the hair again for good measure.

"There we go. It's gone now," he beamed.

"Th-thank you," she gushed, the blush on her cheeks intensifying. Naruto briefly wondered why most of the girls he met always stuttered. Maybe it was a girl thing.

* * *

Hinata walked through the aisles, taking her time. This was good for her; distraction. She quickly went through the shopping list in her hand, mentally checking off the items she'd already collected.

Yep, she got everything. She walked towards the counter but decided to go on a little detour to the magazine shelves just before the counter. She browsed through some of the magazines but stopped short after hearing a familiar voice. It was a masculine sort of voice that reverberated right through her; so cheerful and somehow, soothing, at the same time.

Turning to glance at the source, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor. She saw a certain blonde at the counter right in front of her, the very source of the raging war in her head.

He couldn't see her because his back was facing towards her, thank God. She watched in shock as he brushed the counter girl's hair. The counter girl, frozen by the intimacy of the action, comically held a few items in her hands in mid-air.

_'Whipped cream and condoms? What the hell is he buying?!'_ she thought in complete shock. '_Oh great, now they're giggling and laughing. Wonderful.'_ Hinata inwardly cursed the pair as she watched as the blonde ask the counter girl for something who then fetched a pill bottle, pausing to scribble something on it.

_Oh, crap. He's paying now. Gotta hide_, she thought. She walked quickly down the aisle, away from the counter and towards the fruit section.

It was official, Hinata had decided. Naruto is now the bane of her existence, a wolf in sheep's clothing. Thought he could fool her with his handsome smile? Hah! Whatever was there or whatever happened between them, as small and meager and it was, was completely over.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Naruto happily exclaimed as he slammed the door open. He belatedly remembered his poor friend's predicament and quickly added a softer,"Oh, sorry, man."

He quickly set the paper bag in his arms down onto the coffee table and fished for the pain medication he had recently purchased (with Sasuke's money, of course) and tossed it to Sasuke who, by the looks of it was trying to calm the miniature earthquake that had erupted in his head with the loud blonde's boisterous entrance. Naruto gave him an apologetic look before leaving to fetch a glass of water for him.

"Oh come on, is that really necessary?" he groaned as he returned to find Sasuke inspecting the label of the orange bottle.

"Yes. It prevented me from taking expired laxatives, as I'm sure you could recall," Sasuke growled, tearing off the white bottle cap and then bringing the bottle to his mouth, shaking it's contents until two pills fell into his mouth. He grabbed the glass from Naruto, gulping down the water and aspirin quickly and wiped his mouth with hand.

"Naruto, why does 'Miku' want you to call her? With nearly ten hearts, if I may add," Sasuke offhandedly commented, tossing the pill bottle back to him.

"Oh, that must be the pharmacy chick's name," Naruto absentmindedly replied, inspecting the scribble on the label, himself.

"Was she cute?"

"She was okay," Naruto replied. He couldn't even really remember what she looked like. Shamefully, he had other thoughts crowding his thoughts to really take notice of the counter-girl. Thoughts of girls with weird purple hair that somehow looked natural. Was it dyed? Or maybe she was just born with it, like how he was born with weird whisker birth marks on his face. He should ask her. Actually, he should call her. But did he get her number? Maybe he could bug Sakura to give him her number.

"You gonna call her?"

Naruto quickly snapped out of his daze. "What?" he spluttered dumbly.

"The pharmacy chick - you gonna call her?" Sasuke repeated slowly, giving his friend a scrutinizing look. Naruto was out more than usual. '_Something's up with him,'_ the raven-haired man thought.

"I don't know, man… Should I?" Naruto asked.

"Hell, I don't know. What about Sakura's friend from last night?"

Naruto visibly flinched and quickly tried to brush it off with a loud laugh. "Oh, man, I'm quite the popular guy, huh?"

"Hmm?" Sasuke drawled, sensing the blonde's evasion. "If I recall correctly, you were 'in love'," he smirked.

"That was drunk talk!" Naruto roared indignantly, shoving an accusing finger at his sneaky bastard's face. Sasuke could still feel his head pounding from the blonde's shouting but he ignored it, a sadistic grin growing on his face with the accomplishment of successfully striking a nerve.

"Hmm, I didn't even get the chance to say _who_ you were in love with. So defensive, I didn't even have to say her name," Sasuke clucked his tongue, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Shut up!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up to leave,"I'm gonna go call the pharmacy chick!"

"Woah, are you blushing?" Sasuke yelled at his retreating figure, unable to resist another jab.

"Fuck you, you stupid albino!"

* * *

**A/N:**

Hooray for rom-coms and blushed! Naruto's shaping up to be quite the feminine character.

I know it's much but I hope this makes up for the previous, crappy chapter I posted.

Leave a review! Comments, suggestions, flames and violent reactions are welcome!


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